Rovers rounded off a perfect week by making it four wins out of five as they ended November on a high, following a hat-trick of victories, which was capped off by a resilient display away at Stoke City as Tony Mowbray’s men managed to fend off a late rally by the home side, to win 2-1 through a clinical counter-attack finished off by substitute Sam Gallagher.
Mowbray named an unchanged side for the second time this season, with their last unchanged line-up coming a few weeks ago at Elland Road against Leeds United. Darragh Lenihan took the armband for the second time in as many games as there was only one change to the substitutes bench as Sam Gallagher was brought back in after the forward recovered from the injury that kept him out of the midweek victory against Brentford, as he replaced John Buckley.
There were a number of key milestones for Rovers as Bradley Dack made his 100th Rovers start in all competitions and his 300th club career appearance as the sharpshooter came into this game in search of his fourth goal of the week after previously bagging two against Barnsley, and the winner in midweek against Brentford. Danny Graham came into the game in search of his 50th league goal for Rovers as he made his 450th start of his club career whilst Adam Armstrong also notched up his 150th club career start. Elliott Bennett, who started on the bench, would also achieve a milestone of 400 career league appearances, if he entered the fray throughout the 90 minutes.
Despite the travelling contingency having buoyancy following their recent positive results, the same could not be said about the 21,174 home fans who were scattered across the bet365 stadium as their side shaped up to begin the game at the kick-off. The deflated home fans, who had already seen a manager depart their club this season, in former Luton Town boss Nathan Jones, were hoping that Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill could guide Stoke to victory in order to capitalise on Rovers’ poor away form.
Rovers started the brighter of the two teams, as would have been expected given the respective runs of form of the two teams. Bradley Dack picked up the ball and managed to find Adam Armstrong, who was forced out into a wide area in the box before trying to hang up a cross for Danny Graham. Despite the solid build-up, the cross was well anticipated by former Wolves defender, Danny Batth, who nodded the high ball clear.
On the fifth minute, Stoke claimed the first shot of the afternoon as Tom Ince – son of former Manchester United midfielder and former Rovers boss Paul – managed to gain a yard of space before striking at goal from just inside the area. A high ball forward was knocked down by Sam Vokes into Ince’s path, which allowed the winger to control the ball and stumble his way into the penalty area. Ince managed to get his shot underway mid-fall as he produced a smart save from Rovers ‘keeper Christian Walton, who palmed the ball out to Stewart Downing, who managed to clear the danger.
Armstrong managed to capitalise on some poor Stoke possession on the ninth minute but failed to make his clever play count on the scoreboard. Some sloppy and lackadaisical play by Stoke saw Armstrong dispossess the defence and burst into the penalty area where he had the chance to put Rovers into the lead. Luckily for the home side, Jack Butland was able to stand his ground and deny the England u-20 World Cup winner his fourth league goal of the season.
On the 13th minute, Rovers did manage to force the ball into the back of the net, courtesy of the man of the hour, Bradley Dack, who continued his rich vein of form to put Rovers ahead, much like he did in this fixture last season. Stewart Downing’s deep corner was nodded back across goal by Darragh Lenihan, whose nod deflected into the path of Tosin Adarabioyo, who tried to poke home from around six-yards out, but saw his effort cleared off the line. That clearance by James McClean wasn’t good enough for Stoke, as the ball ricocheted off his own man and fell perfectly for Dack to stab home from virtually the goalline, in order to notch his ninth league goal of the season and put Rovers 1-0 up.
Rovers soon fell into a counter-attacking style, as Stoke became more dominant with possession as they tried to fashion an opening in order to try and draw level. The away side’s defensive resilience was solid, which was unlike them when away from home, as they limited the home side to shots from range, with the closest threat to Walton’s goal, being Joe Allen’s 25-yard effort, which ballooned over the crossbar after half-an-hour was played.
That effort became a catalyst for some Stoke pressure, as their influence in the game grew. Less than a minute later, Tom Ince was able to connect with a header at the near-post, but he failed to get it on target, as it skimmed off his head and flew across the face of goal before Downing cleared.
Three minutes later, on the 34th minute, Stephen Ward and Sam Clucas combined for a better effort than Ince’s. Ward was able to stand up a cross that Clucas connected with, however the 6’2” ex-Swansea City midfielder’s header, whilst angled towards goal, cleared the crossbar, as Rovers were awarded a goal-kick.
With Rovers’ minds firmly fixated on trying to keep their hosts at bay, they rarely forayed forwards after Dack’s goal, in a half that, lacked the attacking bite their fans would have expected from this talented side. That theme continued into added time, as referee Kevin Friend only added on a solitary minute onto the end of the first-half, before soon blowing for half-time.
During the break, both managers would have been heaping encouragement and praise, despite the respective sides being in different positions in terms of the scoreline.
Home boss Michael O’Neill would have seen many encouraging signs from his side, during his brief stint in charge of the Potters, given the fact he had already overseen two of Stoke’s four victories this campaign. That would have been no different for this game, as the current Northern Ireland boss would have taken encouragement from Stoke’s rally after Rovers’ goal. Although O’Neill would have been obviously disappointed with the goal his side had conceded and the manner in which it went in, he would have been encouraged by the quality within his ranks, given Rovers’ shaky away record.
In the away changing room, Tony Mowbray and his staff would have been delighted with how Rovers had applied themselves in the first period, both offensively and defensively. Whilst the offensive prowess of Rovers tailed off after Dack’s goal, the early pressure during the opening quarter of an hour was a key prelude for the goal. Defensively, Mowbray would have been pleased with how his side had limited Stoke to efforts from long-range but would have also been wise enough to warn his side about the host’s attacking talent and pace off the bench.
Rovers kicked-off the second-half with the intentions of holding onto their lead in order to send the 1,118 fans who made the journey down to Stoke, another memorable one.
Unlike in the first-half, Stoke started the brighter of the two teams as Tom Ince powered a drive towards goal, but he narrowly cleared the top-left corner, as the ball rattled the empty front row of seats behind Walton’s goal.
Walton was soon called into action on the 49th minute as he burst into life in order to deny ex-Burnley forward, Sam Vokes his first league goal of the season. Clucas’ pinpoint cross evaded all the Rovers men in the box and sat up perfectly for Vokes to powerfully nod towards goal. Luckily for Rovers, despite having Dack on the line, Walton as the first line of defence was enough, as the on-loan shot-stopper palmed the ball away to safety before Rovers cleared.
A few minutes later, on the 52nd minute, Rovers made their first change of the game as Elliott Bennett was introduced for his 400th career league appearance, as Adam Armstrong departed the field of play.
On the 59th minute, Tottenham Hotspur loanee, Cameron Carter-Vickers, who was at right-back for the hosts, instead of his more usual centre-back role did well to get down the right-wing and pull the ball back for Ince, whose first-time effort was well blocked by Adarabioyo.
With an hour gone, Rovers opted to make their second alteration of the game as Danny Graham departed to a standing ovation from the away support, with Sam Gallagher coming on in his place.
Stoke replied, two minutes later, with some substitutions of their own as Michael O’Neill made a double change which saw former Rovers loanee Mame Biram Diouf introduced, alongside Aston Villa loanee, Scott Hogan as Tom Ince and Ryan Woods were both withdrawn to make way.
A blocked Stoke effort on the 66th minute fell kindly into Sam Clucas’ path who tried his luck from around 20-yards out, but his effort failed to hit the target, as he sliced it wide.
Two minutes later, the Stoke pressure saw them get the ball closer and closer to goal. James McClean managed to dispossess Ryan Nyambe, who thought he had more time on the ball than he did, which allowed the former West Bromwich Albion winger to burst down the left-wing and fizz in a low cross that Scott Hogan connected with. Despite the increasing pressure from the hosts, Hogan’s flick at the near-post failed to squeeze past Walton, as the ball nestled into the side-netting.
Rovers managed to get forwards on the 70th minute for the first time in the second-half as they tried to avoid a potential sucker-punch by killing the game off with a second goal. Joe Rothwell used his pace and power to bomb down the wing before cutting inside and teeing up Corry Evans, who tried to cap off two outstanding performances (against Brentford and this affair), with a goal from 25-yards out. Although the Northern Irish international has a history of long-range strikes hitting the back of the net, Jack Butland was on-hand to deny the midfielder his first league goal for Rovers in just over four years, with his last league goal coming in a 2-2 home draw against Sheffield Wednesday on 28th November 2015.
Rovers’ final change of the game came a minute after Evans’ attempt. Lewis Holtby was thrown on, as Joe Rothwell departed, after the former had a subdued afternoon which wasn’t up to the standard, he had set in Wednesday night’s decision against Brentford.
The final substitution of the afternoon came on the 78th minute, as Nick Powell came on in-place of ex-Burnley defender, Stephen Ward, as Stoke pushed for an equaliser as the game approached the final ten minutes.
Mame Biram Diouf nearly punished his former side as he hit Rovers on the counter-attack with his pace. The Senegalese forward exposed a gap in Rovers’ defence, before storming into the area and releasing a shot under pressure which Walton did well to save. Diouf was alert enough to try and poke the rebound home, but a well-positioned Darragh Lenihan was on-hand to head the ball off the line and behind for a corner.
Rovers’ resolve was soon broken on the 80th minute after a comedy of errors in the Rovers box saw the ball ricochet off Corry Evans and end up in the back of the net for Stoke’s equaliser. The corner conceded by Lenihan in the last phase of play was an in-swinger that left Christian Walton flapping under pressure from Scott Hogan. The ball which Walton flapped at hit an unfortunate Evans, who knew little about it, as the ball trickled into the back of the net to equalise the scoreline at 1-1.
The parity between the two sides didn’t last long as Rovers soon re-took the lead courtesy of second-half substitute Sam Gallagher, who finished off a fine Rovers move which consisted of eight passes in order to notch his third goal of the season, after previously netting away at Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup and Preston North End in the league. The move began from the back after Darragh Lenihan beat Scott Hogan in the air as he managed to nod the ball down to Stewart Downing. Downing was quick to find Corry Evans who interchanged passes with Ryan Nyambe before the Namibian defender fizzed a pass directly into the feet of Bradley Dack, who was alert on the half-turn. Dack, after receiving the ball, powered forwards, before slipping Elliott Bennett through, who had made an impactful run down the right-hand side, before cutting into the box and pulling the ball back for the unmarked Gallagher, who finished first-time, past the despairing Butland to cap off a wonderful move and make it 2-1, as Rovers looked set to snatch two points away from the Potters and leave Stoke with all three points.
Gallagher’s goal turned out to be the last meaningful action of the game, as despite Kevin Friend adding an extra four minutes of play onto the end of the game, Stoke were unable to muster the required chances to significantly threaten Rovers’ goal, as they pushed for another equaliser, but Rovers managed to keep them at bay, with Christian Walton claiming numerous high balls into his box. As the four minutes were expertly wound down by Rovers, Mr. Friend called an end to the tie with the final whistle soon after a Walton goal-kick, which guaranteed that the three points were heading back with the Blues.
Whilst the game lacked the fluidity from Rovers’ perspective, that the game on Wednesday against Brentford had, the application of the ‘ugly side’ of the game, coupled with the willingness to put their bodies on the line and the ‘never say die’ attitude that propelled them forward for the winner shows exactly what Tony Mowbray and his staff have been working towards over the course of the season. Although the three-game week is always tough on the legs of any professional footballer, Rovers showed that they had the squad, the fitness and the mentality to come away from all three games with maximum points, despite naming an unchanged side. Additionally, the impact off the bench from Sam Gallagher will hopefully help his confidence and aid his quest to becoming a consistent goalscorer in Blue and White. The depth of the squad has been shown this week as, although Mowbray named an unchanged team for this game, the strength of the playing staff was key as, whilst Joe Rothwell didn’t have the best of games the likes of Elliott Bennett and Sam Gallagher showed their quality instead, which is key for morale.
The league table is looking much more attractive for Rovers, as they head into the busy Christmas period looking up the table towards the playoffs, rather than down, towards the relegation zones. After this dogged result, Tony Mowbray and his men find themselves in 11th place – the highest they’ve been all season – with 27 points and a -1-goal difference from the 19 games played so far, which only puts them four points off the playoffs, as the gap looks a lot healthier than it did before the last international break.
Looking ahead to Rovers’ busy December, next on the calendar are Derby County, who travel to Ewood Park on Saturday 7th December (3pm), who travel up north with Wayne Rooney among their coaching staff as England’s highest goalscorer scouts his teammates ahead of his eligibility once the January transfer window opens. Following the Rams’ departure, Rovers hop back on their coach for the long trip down to South Wales, where they’ll face an indifferent Swansea City side on Wednesday 11th December (7:45pm), who have seen their positive early season form stunted, which has coincided with a slip out of the top six. After leaving Wales, another long trip is pencilled in for Saturday 14th December (3pm), as Tony Mowbray’s men head down to Ashton Gate where they’ll lock horns with Bristol City with the intention of damaging the Robins’ playoff ambitions, whilst strengthening their own.
